Lilies and Roses
by petals-to-fish
Summary: She's the florist's daughter and she's lovelier than any flower he's ever seen. Hair red as a poppy. Eyes green as an evergreen branch. Mouth is as sharp as a rose thorn. Skin as soft as the lilies she's christened after. (JILY FLOWER SHOP AU) one-shot.


Because I am flower shop AU trash and saw an art piece of manip that snapslikethis made and it was over. I had to write this.

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They met when James turned eleven; right after his parents officially adopted his brother, Sirius. Their mother ordered an arrangement of roses for the dinner table that was meant to impress Sirius' caseworker and the florist showed up with her arms full of red roses. The little girl at her side also held roses and she smiled at James when they crossed paths.

Sirius hissed to James about ice cream hidden in the back of the freezer and the girl was forgotten for ice cream until she came by with her mother the next Saturday to drop off a shipment of sunflowers. She had white flowers braided into her hair and introduced herself as Lily. Lily came by every Saturday with her mum, flowers in hand.

 _"You can never have too many fresh flowers in your home."_

That was one of Mrs. Potter's famous sayings.

James wasn't certain that their home needed more flowers, seeing as Mrs. Potter got a new delivery from the local florist every Saturday. Honestly, the only thing the flowers did well was making the house smell like a forest and attracting bees on the back lawn. Even still, Sirius and James grew up with their mum always having fresh flowers about the house.

The florist was a tall woman with a pointed face and thick red hair. She wore a wide brimmed hat and whenever she came over one of her two daughters would often accompany her. James was eleven and Lily was only ten. She stood in her mum's shadow, as Mrs. Potter fawned over a new arrangement delivered. James didn't have much of an opinion about her then. His mum invited their family over for dinner once and Lily cried because Sirius put worms in her bowl of ice cream.

They saw each other in passing as the years went by; James was acutely aware of her whenever she came by the house. She liked to wear dresses and sometimes she had flowers in her hair. He opened the door once after the doorbell rang and she stood there holding a beautiful bouquet of his mum's favorite red roses. He looked a mess in his rugby outfit and stared at her through his lopsided glasses as he realized she was no longer the little girl who cried after worms.

She's the florist's daughter and she's lovelier than any flower he's ever seen. Hair red as a poppy. Eyes green as an evergreen branch. Mouth is as sharp as a rose thorn. Skin as soft as the lilies she's christened after.

James is almost sixteen when he's out shopping with his mum in the village and runs into her again. Mrs. Potter picked James up from rugby practice right after it was announced he'd be captain the next year. James was recounting the practice to his mother as they walked along the village outskirts. It was near Christmastime, the streets were lined in twinkling lights. Snow was scattered everywhere, James hadn't wanted to go shopping with his mum, it was quite taxing; she always wanted to know his opinion on things.

"I don't care if it's black or tan mum, its you're pocketbook."

All in all, fifteen-year-old James Potter was only concerned with getting back home so he and Sirius could catch their favorite tv show before Mr. Potter stole the television for his nightly news reports. Mrs. Potter dragged him up and down the town, buying their groceries and having them shipped directly to the house by a delivery boy.

"I expect rugby will be cancelled next week if this weather keeps up." Mrs. Potter told James as they both got a coffee at the local café.

James pouted and sipped his coffee dramatically, rugby was his favorite part of the week. Mrs. Potter laughed at her son's depressed reaction and wrapped one arm around him as they walked to their car. She kissed his forehead, brushing his messy hair to one side like she always did.

"You'd play rugby everyday day if I let you." She sighed, as if imagining it.

James took another sip of the scalding coffee before looking at his mum, "I wish there was rugby school."

She laughed and her laugh fell away slightly as she looked at a particular shop with worry etched on her face. James looked too out of interest and saw it was the Evans' flower shop. The store windows were covered in evergreen branches tangled with fairy lights. Large red and green baubles hung from the ceiling, illuminating a sign that all poinsettias were buy one get one free.

"Mum no," James pleaded as she grabbed his arm and led him to the front door of the shop.

"We haven't had a fresh bouquet for a month!" his mother maintained pulling him with her.

"Because it's winter!" James insisted, "Everything's dead."

"Oh stop being so dramatic, James."

James moaned inwardly as the bell rang above the front door, alerting the shop owners of the entrance. Instantly James' senses where overwhelmed with cinnamon and other unnamable spices. He breathed in deep the same time that his mum did and they both sighed a little. A jovial old man at the counter laughed brightly at their expressions.

"Where's Maggie?" Mrs. Potter asked, looking for the florist in the small shop.

The man pulled off a hat showing off his blond head, "Maggie's out sick I'm afraid."

"Oh I'm so sorry." Mrs. Potter placed a hand on her heart.

"I'm Daniel Evans. Forgive the smell!" he announced, welcoming them in with open arms, "My daughters are trying to burn the place down baking cookies."

"Hey!" a shrill voice of protest came from behind a curtained room behind the shop owner, "I am a _perfectly_ acceptable cook." A blonde woman with a thin pointed face similar to that of the missing florist stuck her head out from behind the curtain, a frown on her face. "Lily's the one who dropped the first batch."

"I told you they slipped!" another voice added in despair from behind the curtain.

Mr. Evans sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand like he was way in over his head. From the unseen part of the shop there was a loud sound, almost like an angry clanging of some pots. The blonde girl suddenly looked behind her in fear of something coming towards her.

" _No—Lily—Don—Arg_!"

James perked up in interest at the same moment that his mum and the shop owner covered their mouths in horror. A red head had pulled back the thick curtain and with a swift fling of her wrist, shot a handful of baking flour at the woman claiming to be a good cook. James eyes the girl appreciatively for her creative use of flour that now covered the blonde's face. The blonde had her eyes clamped shut and she was shaking heatedly.

"Lily!" the blonde howled miserably.

"Oops," Lily grinned dubiously, leaning against the frame of the doorway, content with the outcome of her actions, "My hands just," she paused for dramatic effect, " _slipped_."

James laughed out loud at Lily's wit and suddenly piercing green eyes fell on him. James looked her up and down, appreciating her flour dusted dress. It was low cut and showed off her impossibly long legs. He couldn't help smirking arrogantly and reaching his hand up to his hair so that he could smile cheekily at her.

Instead of acknowledging James, Lily's green eyes fell on his mum for a greeting, "Mrs. Potter, so lovely of you to drop in. Would you like some sugar cookies?"

The blonde opened one eye and frowned at the realization that they had visitors, "Mrs. Potter probably wants cookies that you didn't drop on the floor," she hissed theatrically, and then she seemed to apprehend she was still covered in flour, "Ugh, it'll take me hours to get this out of my hair." And before she left, the girl gave a interested smile at James' general direction.

"Tuney has a crush." Lily snorted as her sister disappeared again to the back of the shop; rolling up the sleeves to her dress and ignoring the pertinent stare her father sent her.

"Lily," her father admonished, "Remember what we talked about."

Whatever they'd talked about Lily certainly didn't care about because she huffed and crossed her arms. James was pleasantly surprised to see that once, her green eyes looked up to scan him with interest. He'd seen beautiful girls all over town but none as pretty and as vivacious as her.

James' mum told Mr. Evans kindly, "I'm here for you poinsettia sale, if you have any plants left."

James looked around and took notice of what his mum did; the flower shop was pretty bare for trimmings. A couple of Christmas trees strung with popcorn were in one corner. A potted cactus looking plant sat on the counter, red flowers blooming from it. Red roses did fill a shelf to James' right but they were the only flowers he could see.

"We've got two more poinsettias left, they're yours." Lily's father, Mr. Evans, confirmed, "I'll go grab them from the back."

James' mum seemed happy with that answer but James just stared around the pitiful flower shop until his eyes landed back on Lily. The girl was watching him with inquisitive eyes. She had her hands on the counter, so that she was leaning all her weight forward to watch James and his mum.

"Bare trimmings for a flower shop." James commented stupidly and his mother hit him pertinently for speaking out of turn.

"My mothers been sick." Lily's cold voice sent shivers through his bones, "This is her shop, we're doing the best we can."

"You're doing wonderfully," James' mum clutched her hand to her heart at Lily's words, "Is Maggie okay?"

Even though Lily's gaze softened as her eyes fell on James' mum, the coldness from her tone hadn't totally vanished, "Breast cancer." She responded, "Mum has to travel for treatments sometimes."

"Oh my, and at Christmas too." James' mother declared heartbroken, "You must tell me when she returns."

Lily's icy green eyes slid back to James, "She'll return the same time our flowers do."

Awkwardly his eyes slide to the floor, her icy tone convicting that she did not like him—one bit.

Somewhat foolishly James shrugs and mutters indelicately, "Sorry bout your mum."

"Thanks." But her tone was about as convincing as her stone cold eyes.

James didn't come into contact with Lily Evans again for another year or so, he was sixteen and foolish. Sirius had made friends with a bloke named Remus Lupin who in turn introduced them to a bloke named Peter. Peter was from James' mum called 'the wrong side of the tracks'. Remus was the good sort that his parents adored but their friend Peter was certainly quite the little troublemaker.

James, however, was the one who figured out the local diner owner was a drunk and often forgot to lock up all his windows. Remus was the one who suggested they make milkshakes and Sirius was determined to make a mickey mouse shaped pancake before he died. In the dead of night he and his mates would sneak into the diner and make themselves milkshakes and pancakes while they smoked the cigarettes that Peter would nick from the drugstore.

They were all young, dumb, and reckless.

James didn't have a care in the world those nights that he and the boys traversed the town like they owned it. Sometimes they passed the flower shop. James noticed when flowers started reappearing in the windows. All sorts of flowers that brought color back to the small town shop. The shop had been dormant for quite some time and his mum had been in despair without any fresh flowers for the house. He was glad to know that the florist was back and resolved to let his mum know she could order her favorite flowers again

One night he saw Lily's vibrant red hair through the window while walking the town streets at three am. James paused his walk so he could see what she was up too at such a late hour. He never expected her to be a night owl. She'd grown in the last year, her face was thinner and her eyes were wider. James knew if he stood next to her that she was a foot shorter than him at least.

She was bent over an arrangement, her hair tired up in an orange bandana that clashed horribly with her hair. She was working by candlelight, the glow flickering around her and lighting her golden like an ethereal creature. On her purple shirt was a peace sign painted in black that matched her long skirt. Her face was lined with concentration and he smiled when he saw her tongue sticking out the edge of her pink mouth as she focused on sliding a red rose into the wild arrangement she was constructing.

"What are you looking at?" Sirius required answers to James' sudden pause in their adventure.

Sirius threw an arm around James' shoulders and peered through the window. James didn't want her looking up and seeing two men staring at her so he moved on, keeping his head ducked, embarrassed that Sirius had spotted him staring.

"She's pretty." Peter said next, walking to match James' gait, "What's her name?"

James brushed them off and pretended to look unconcerned, "Come on," he said, "Let's get back to the house before mum notices Sirius and I slipped out."

"Goody two shoes." Peter mocked.

James punched his friend in the shoulder, "Some of us do have parents, you know."

James went back the next day to the flower shop, this time stepping inside. He'd worn a white shirt and brown slacks, hoping that the outfit would make him seem more mature. Inside the shop it smelled like paradise, flowers of every color blooming and filling the shop with a fragrance that was almost too much to stomach. The bell on the shop door had warned her of an intruder and her green eyes peered at him over a large arrangement of large, tropical-looking flowers.

"Potter." Her voice cut through the air like a knife.

James almost immediately regretted coming, as she held sheers in her hand like a weapon as she stared at him unhappily. She was still in the same clothes as the night before but her hair was no longer tied up, instead it flowed over her shoulders like a waterfall. Each strand caught the light from the windows so that her hair appeared to be shimmering. With the added effect of the beautiful flowers surrounding him he felt like he'd come across a beautiful princess in a forest.

"H-how are you?" he stumbled over his words like a child.

Lily stood upright and whipped the sheers on her skirt, staring at him with pure inquisition, "I'm swell." She sounded sarcastic, "Did you need something?"

"Uh," he realized how stupid he looked, just walking into a flower shop just to tell the pretty girl he fancied hello.

Lily put a hand on her hip and stared at him, waiting for an answer. James licked his lips and looked around at the room, desperate for a conversation kick-starter. With a huff Lily tossed the sheers on the counter to her left and crossed her arms, cocking her hip. James reached for his already messy hair and ran his fingers through the strands.

"I'm getting my mum flowers." He decisively lied, "Got any suggestions?"

Lily looked alarmed, "Is it her birthday?"

"Yeah." He mumbled, scuffing the wooden floor with his shoe.

The sound of her sugary laughter through the shop made him swing his head up in wonder. She was clutching her stomach and laughing at him like he'd said a uproarious joke. He grew unsure and he took a step back from her, almost hitting a small tree with large green leaves.

"You're a terrible liar." She said through her amusement fueled laughter, "God awful."

He blushed up to his roots and shoved his hands in his pockets. He muttered something stupid about how "it's true" which only made the teasing girl noisier with her giggles. James was an _idiot_ to think he'd stood a chance deceiving her. Lily stopped laughing when she saw his shoulders sag but she didn't wipe the smile from her face.

"Alright Potter, I'll play your game." She sneered, green eyes flickering treacherously at him, "How about two dozen roses for your mum? Eh?"

"Lovely." He coughed, wishing the floor would swallow him whole.

She knew he was lying and she was still going to make him go through with it.

Her smile was wide as she crossed the shop and pulled two large red bouquets from the shelf. James couldn't help admiring her while she was turned away from him. When she turned to pass him the two bouquets James quickly pretended he was interested in the tree he'd almost knocked into.

"How will you be paying Potter?" she asked, rounding the counter and turning on the cash register.

"Erm, card please." He said sheepishly, holding both vases awkwardly as he fished for his card.

Evans looked positively smitten at the turn of events and she took his card without any qualms. James waited for the card to read and stared at her face, it was softer now, the lines disappeared from earlier. Even though she'd been laughing _at him_ James knew that he'd probably do anything to hear that laugh again.

"Thank you." He said when she gave him his card back.

She was still smiling and James loved the twinkle in her green eyes, "No," she handed him a receipt for eighty five dollars, "Thank _you_."

He walked out of the store guiltily and she shouted playfully after him, "Tell your mum happy birthday for me!" followed by her ridiculously melodic laugh again.

When he got home and passed his mum the two-dozen red roses, Sirius had a right good laugh.

"You went to the flower shop." He accused, grey eyes sharp as a tack.

"Yeah." James agreed, somewhat prickly about the whole thing, "I went to surprise mum with flowers."

"They're beautiful James," His mum said as she put them in a large vase, "But really, _two_ dozen?"

Sirius snorted, "And the wrench tricked you into buying two dozen red roses."

"Sirius mind your tongue." James' mum snapped, "Honestly," she turned to smile at James, "Thank you James. They are my favorite."

"You deserve all the roses in the world mum." James told her and Sirius gagged behind his hand.

The next time James went back to the flower shop was three months later, and not by choice. James' mum had ordered a bunch of bouquets for a dinner party with his father's office. Once again, only Lily was in the shop, this time actually preparing flowers meant for his mother. He saw her through the window first, dressed in a pretty flowered dress that fell to her knees. When the bell rang to announce his entrance in the shop her green eyes looked up from her arrangements eagerly and she grinned impishly.

"Is it your mums birthday again?" she teased.

James refused to let her mock him again so he counter-acted with his own bantering, "Going to sell me the most expensive flowers in the shop again if it is her birthday?"

Lily's eyes glimmered indignantly, "Oh, you deserved that Potter." She disputed.

"Did I?" he countered, walking towards her and noticing how her eyes looked him up and down quickly to assess him as he got closer.

"You did." She took as step back when he got into her personal space, now it was _her_ turn to look sheepish, "Although I do suppose I should've been a bit nicer since you don't realize how big a prick you are."

His eyebrows shot into his hairline, "What the Hell are you on about—I've only ever been nice to you—"

She skirted around him and grabbed a handful of blue flowers to add to a vase on her counter, "I've seen you and your mates prancing around this town in the middle of the night like you own it." Lily snaps, not facing him as she stuffed flowers into the vase she was working on, "Although, I can't blame you for being so entitled. You've never had to work a day in your life to get what you want—it's handed to you on a silver platter. Your mum really loves spoiling you and your brother, when all you two do to repay her is sneak out and smoke cigarettes with someone like Peter Pettigrew."

James frowned deeply at her monologue, "Evans, I honestly just came in to grab the flowers for my mum—wasn't planning on staying and offending you with my presence."

"I know why you're here." Her shoulders tightened and her knees locked, she turned slowly, facing him so that he could see her face. It was hard and rigid like someone had carved her out of stone. It was terrifying and beautiful all at once. "You struck a nerve."

"I noticed." He stared down at her, struggling to figure out what exactly he'd done to receive the rage.

"Did you even notice that the flowers came back?" She asked coolly.

James stared at her dumbly, "Huh?"

She gestured around the shop, "Not _bare trimmings_ anymore, is it?"

James remembered the first conversation they'd ever had, when he offended her because her mum was sick and the shop was slowly dying. James looked around and knew that this shop, it had changed from their childhood. It wasn't just Christmas trees, a clueless father, and unbaked sugar cookies any longer. Plants, colorful pots, and flowers covered every inch of the store. It was wild and passionate instead of gloomy and dull.

"You're talking about your mum." He identified kindly, realizing where her anger was coming from, "She came back then?"

"No." and her shoulders squared daringly, "No, she didn't."

"But the flowers—" he was perplexed, her mood danced up and down like a roller coaster.

"Are the only thing I have left of her." Lily's green eyes were shrill and keen.

"Where's your father?"

"My sister decided moving my father to the city would be better for his health." Lily turned away from him again, her walls forming back up to block him out.

She fiddled with the flowers in the vases on the table. Red, blues, and gold's mixed together to create chaotic centerpiece befitting a queen and her court. James knew they were the centerpieces his mum had ordered and now James knew that the florist's daughter had become the florist.

"So you're alone." He stated the obvious.

"This is my mum's shop, as long as I have her flowers, I have her."

James had never met someone so mesmerizing and honest as Lily Evans in his entire life. He hadn't noticed that she'd turn to look at him again until their eyes met. She was staring up at him, her jaw firm as she judged his reaction to her honesty.

"I'm sorry about your mother." He told her sincerely.

Something like pain flashed on her face and she brushed him away, "Thank you." She turned back to the vases on the counter, "Your mum ordered three wildflower vases. She's already paid."

Lily motioned to the vases and James' face fell as he apprehended how large the vases were. He'd have to carry one at a time to the car.

"I can help you carry one of them." She proposed, "If you'd like?"

"That'd be amazing." He replied truthfully.

James carried two of the vases, his face full of flower as he walked. Lily was at his side, the last vase balanced on her hip. They walked in silence to his car and as Lily helped him load the vases their hands brushed. James felt a spark. He looked over to see that she'd drawn her hand back quickly and was staring determinedly at the sidewalk.

Outside of the wildly decorated shop, she brought the striking flower colors with her. Hair red as a rose. Eyes green as a forest. Freckles that dot her nose like seeds on a sunflower. Lips pink as a Hawaiian bloom.

She was beautiful and intimidating and real.

"Thank you again." He managed to tell her as she shut his car door once securing the vases.

She tucked a strand of her hair back behind her ear and smiled awkwardly, "No problem."

They parted as friendly acquaintances. She waved as he got into his car. He watched her form grow smaller and smaller in his rearview mirror. Even still, the way she looked, acted, and _lived_ left a mark on him.

James didn't see Lily again for another two years.

The Potter boys went off to University in London, studying law just like their father wanted. James was spending his spare time playing rugby everyday just like he'd always wanted. Sirius was minoring in mechanics and was trying to find his own perfect motorbike. Appealing university girls kept their fancy. Winter nights were spent drinking in their flat with friends. Home was a far away concept that they only revisited on holidays.

Of course, unbeknownst to the Potter boys…you can leave your hometown but it always has a way of reentering your life in unexpected ways.

It was while on their summer vacation studying abroad in Greece that they got the first letter from their father, he was worried about Mrs. Potter's health. By the end of the summer she'd been admitted to the hospital twice and Sirius and James had left Greece early to be at home with her.

Mrs. Potter had cancer in her lungs.

James missed rugby practice so much that his coach was threatening to throw him off the team.

Sirius' grades were slipping.

Mrs. Potter was dying.

James and Sirius were home and at her bedside when she finally passed away. Mr. Potter was devastated as he planned the funeral. It took James three hours to get Sirius out of the shower where he'd been stifling his crying with the sound of running water. James hadn't cried at all, he didn't think he had enough energy to cry.

Instead, James ran through town every morning before the sun would rise and he'd think about how much Mrs. Potter loved them. He'd think about her smile and all the times they'd spent shopping in town together. He'd think about the flower shop and how she always wanted fresh flowers in the house.

He'd momentarily think about Lily, the only girl on earth who knew what he was going through.

The funeral itself was drab, no flowers, and no music, just sorrow. James wore a tight suit that made every inch of him itch. He got up to speak once, but couldn't bring himself to say more than how much he was going to miss her. It was raining. The grey sky reflected his grey world as he watched his mum be lowered into the ground at the local cemetery.

Sirius and Mr. Potter stopped at the drugstore for some cigarettes. James opted to walk home. He turned away from his mother's grave, not finding it fair that a woman who lived her life so colorfully had to be buried in a world so grey. Walking home felt like an eternity and he considered getting on a bus and just going back to school.

The town felt empty.

"James!"

A voice cut through his senseless thoughts and he paused in his lonesome walk to turn and see he was in front of a familiar flower shop. Lily Evans stood in the doorway, holding a pair of cutting sheers and looking positively disheveled. James stood there staring at her when she dropped the sheers and ran out to wrap her arms around his neck and bury her face in his shirt.

"I'm so sorry about your mum." She whispered sincerely into his ear.

James clenched his jaw so tight as he held onto the girl who smelled like flowers, as he held onto the girl who smelled like his mother. Lily pulled away and looked up sorrowfully at him.

"If you ever need to talk to someone," she murmured, "I want you to know my ears are open."

He stared down at her emptily, "How'd you get by without your mum?"

Lily touched his arm sympathetically, "I kept something she loved for myself."

James looked behind Lily at the old flower shop; color dotting his vision and almost blinding him after the day of grey. Red-stemmed roses sat in the window, tied with a black ribbon. He got an idea.

"I'd like to buy two dozen roses."

Lily's eyebrows furrowed together, "What?"

James said more firmly, "I'd like two dozen roses for my mum, please."

Water leaked from Lily's green eyes as she turned, put her hand in his, and led him to her shop. It seemed as if two years hadn't passed. Flowers still littered every corner of Lily's shop. Plants even hung from the beams of the ceilings, vines draping down and brushing James' shoulders. Lily picked her most beautiful red roses and passed them all to James. She clasped her hands at her waist as she watched him grip the roses tightly in his arms.

"She'll love them." Lily said of his mother, buried in the ground.

"Thank you.".

He covered her grave in red roses. The headstone was barely visible once he was finished organizing the two-dozen stemmed roses around it. The world suddenly seemed a little less grey and James imagined his mother smiling down at him from somewhere unknown. _She was right all along_ , James thought to himself, _you could never have enough fresh flowers._

James and Sirius went back to school but Sirius dropped out of law school (much to Mr. Potter's chagrin) and started rebuilding motorbikes. James continued his schooling but at a school closer his childhood home and his mothers grave. He joined a rugby team that didn't require as much practice time so that each weekend he'd return home and each weekend Lily would have a box of a dozen red roses ready for him.

It was a routine that helped James fight through the depression of loosing his mum. It also gave him a chance to get to know Lily better. He learned she liked to listen to the cheesy pop music on the radio and dance around her plants to the tunes. She showed him how to play her favorite card games and he showed her dorky magic tricks he'd learned at school. Soon, going home didn't mean visiting his father or his mum—it meant spending time in a flower shop with a woman he'd grown to care about immensely.

One week, after returning home for summer, James got to the flower shop and saw the shop door was left wide open. No music was drifting from inside and it looked as if a few of the plants had been knocked over. Worriedly, he rushed inside, shouting Lily's name, panic ensuing as he realized he hadn't gotten a call from her in several days. Lily had gotten accustomed to calling him once a week at least to talk about their lives and tell him about the stupid cat who had taken accustom to sleeping in her plants at the front of the shop. .

James found Lily moments later, backed up against the wall of her back storage room with a short balding man pointing a gun at her face. James didn't even think as he jumped the man, knocking him to the ground. It was Peter, the kid who used to steal cigarettes for James and Sirius. James didn't remember punching Peter in the face more than once but the police said if James hadn't have gotten there and knocked the rat out that Lily would've likely been robbed, or worse.

James waited patiently until the police left, keeping Lily in his sights as she recounted how Peter had broken in, surprised her, and threatened her with his gun to open her money safe. The police hauled Peter off and James helped a sniffling Lily reset her pots and plants in order.

"I'm glad you're okay." He told her as they repotted her petunias.

"I'm just glad you got here when you did." She was trying to act nonchalant, but James had seen her jump at the slightest noises all afternoon.

He made her some dinner in the back room of her store. They ate it on the sofa covered in potting soil surrounded by flowers. Lily's cheeks were flushing as James made her laugh with stories of his youth. James was confortable with her feet thrown up on his lap as she recounted the day they met—when she'd dropped a whole tray of Christmas cookies.

James realized how comfortable he was with her, how easy everything seemed.

When he got up to head home Lily jumped up and took his hand. Her green eyes were wide and childish as she asked him to stay with her, just for the night. She was terrified she wouldn't sleep if she were alone. James stayed with her on the old dingy couch in her shop two nights in a row.

The first night they stayed up talking until Lily nodded off with her head on his shoulder, red hair falling into her face. The second night she fell asleep lying down on the couch, her hand wrapped in James' hand as he sat by her head on the floor. It was while sitting in the dark backroom of her flower shop, listening to the sound of her breathing, that James realized he'd fallen in love with her.

He wasn't sure how to tell her though.

He spent his whole summer with her. He studied his books while she named off flowers and prattled on about nothing—but to James it was everything. They managed to catch the cat laying on her potted plants outside and James started feeding it so that it hung around more and more. Lily hated the cat at first but soon; the cat had just become another creature that felt at home in a shop full of flowers.

James would leave her notes to wake up too in the morning. Lily always had a cup of coffee ready for him when he entered the shop every morning. She joked she should put him on payroll. He balanced her checkbooks. Lily started leaving him flowers on his car hood so that when he'd wake up from a nap on her couch or he'd head home, there was always a new colorful flower waiting for him.

James' favorite part of helping her out in her shop was when they got to do arrangements. He loved mixing the colors up in a wild array of patterns and Lily often had to fix whatever he'd created. One day he was making a bouquet for a baby shower, pulling his mothers favorite roses from a tall shelf. He also grabbed yellow roses to mix into the crystal vase sitting on the counter. Lily appeared from the back, holding little white flowers fro the vase and when she saw the fixture of roses James was assembling she laughed.

"You can't put yellow roses _and_ red roses in the same bouquet." She told him, laughing, after one particularly heinous arrangement.

"Why not?" he laughed back, grabbing her hands in his own so that she couldn't take his arrangement apart.

"Because James, it's a baby shower. Red roses are way too romantic." Lily struggled against his grip, trying to reach for one of the red roses.

"They're my mothers favorite!" James reminded her.

"James!" she laughed as he ticked her sides tog et her to stop fighting, "I'm the shop owner and I say no red roses in a baby shower arrangement!"

Still laughing, she spun so she could face him, the laughter only leaving her face when she realized how close they were. James lowered their hands and stared down at her affectionately. Her green eyes were as wild as the bouquet behind her, like she was daring him. James leaned down and brushed his lips against hers briskly before pulling away to gauge her reaction. Her eyes were shut but she was smiling, the freckles dotting her nose appearing even more against her blush. Before he could say anything she let go of his hands and surprised him by grasping a fistful of his shirt and yanking him down so she could firmly plant her mouth against his.

She tasted like the strawberries they'd been eating and her lips were pushing, pulling, and tugging at his. The pent up immodest thoughts in James' head were breaking away from their hold and he was no longer concerned about anything but making it very clear to Lily how he felt. He pushed his body into hers so that she was forced to step backwards and into the table they'd been arranging on. He moved his lips away from hers so he could kiss her jaw, nibble on her ear, and lavish her neck so much so that he could feel the vibration of her satisfied sigh on his lips.

James was aware of her hands, so soft, like petals of a flower, grazing his face, his stomach, and his hair. James let those soft hands guide his mouth back to hers, so that she could whisper his name against their connected lips like a prayer. He was unaware of the fact that suddenly there seemed to be way too much space between them, space that Lily quickly rectified by swinging one of her legs up over his hip, followed by another.

James lifted Lily up onto the table for proper balance, pushing against her hips with his own, creating a intimate friction that made them both groan just as something glass crashed onto the floor and soaked his feet with water and crystal shards. James yelped and unwound himself from Lily, glancing down at the floor.

Red and yellow roses were scattered across the floor and the crystal vase was worse for wear, broken into many pieces. He looked to see Lily's chest was rapidly rising and falling as she stared at the glass and roses on the floor. She then looked at him, her whole face aglow as she slowly slid off the table and daintily stepped around the shards of glass to reach a broom and dustpan nearby.

"I'm sorry Lily." He said, half a laugh threating to come out, "I shouldn't have—"

Lily eyed him with a look that told him to shut up as she swept up as much of the glass and flowers that she could near his feet. Once the glass was clear he knelt down to pick up the flowers. The red and yellow roses that couldn't be arranged with each other but to James, they were perfect together. James picked up one of the red roses specifically and stood back up, turning to offer it to Lily.

"Do you think we can save them?" he asked, feeling guilty that he'd probably ruined some very expensive flowers by getting all hot and bothered.

Lily's grin was a teasing one as she took the red rose and placed it on the table behind James, "The flowers will be fine." She told him, "Roses are hearty little things." She tugged a bit on his shirt, "But we're still not putting red roses in a baby shower vase."

James reached out to tuck a strand of her red hair behind her ear, "And lilies?" he asked, hazel eyes searching her green ones, "So could I put lilies in with red roses?"

Her forehead creased with lines, "You want to put lilies in a baby shower vase?"

"If red roses are for romance," James replied smoothly, "Then I want all the lilies in this room with them."

Lily cupped his hand to her face and beamed at him, "Well, lilies, they're a little more difficult."

James loved the way her fingers brushed through his hair, "How so?"

"Well for starters," she leaned onto her tiptoes so their noses were touching too, "Lilies need more water then roses."

"Good thing the planet is seventy percent water." He scoffed before kissing her nose delightfully.

She giggled and added, "They also need a lot of sunlight, a lot of attention, and a lot of love."

He leaned his forehead against hers and then pressed his lips against her lips firmly before answering, "I think that can easily be _arranged_."

Lily laughed gaily at his pun as he pushed her slowly towards the back room where he could give her all the love and attention she deserved.


End file.
